MINNEAPOLIS — To the liberal activists gathered for the annual Netroots Nation conference, Wisconsin is the center of the political universe.

Several panels on the first day of the annual progressive gathering focused on what’s happening in neighboring Wisconsin: lessons from the push by Gov. Scott Walker to curtail collective bargaining, the takeaways from the failure to unseat a conservative state Supreme Court justice and the upcoming recall elections.

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The Republican wave that gave the GOP control of the House and state capitols around the country has galvanized thousands of activists.

“Wisconsin is Ground Zero right now,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “If we win these elections in Wisconsin, it will have huge ripple effects. … This is seriously where we need to frontload our efforts.”

A senior campaign director for MoveOn.org, Daniel Mintz, said he hasn’t seen as much political energy since the 2008 presidential election or the run-up to the Iraq war.

“Republican overreach has been very useful to us, both in Wisconsin and nationally,” Mintz said. “So when we look back in a year or two years or five years, and think about where this all started, it started in Madison.”

A Democracy for America spokeswoman told activists that her group will spend $1.5 million on the recall effort. She announced plans to hire 35 staffers and to focus on winning in three key districts, which would empower Democrats to block Republicans from passing legislation.

“Essentially we’re laying down the gauntlet in Wisconsin, and that’s going to set the standard for what’s going to happen in the other states,” said Levana Layendecker, communications director at Democracy for America.

Labor groups continue to play an outsized role at the conference. Six big labor unions are partnering with DFA and PCCC to bus attendees to Hudson, Wisc., so they can go door-knocking on behalf of a union activist challenging a Republican incumbent this Sunday.

Readers' Comments (27)

We certainly saw how good the pathetic efforts of the unions did in the special Wisconsin election for that state's supreme court. I hope the unions keep throwing around their weight. It only reinforces the anti-union sentiments that are springing up.

It's gotta hurt Soros's MoveOn.org when the Wisconsin State Supreme Court backs the Repub governor against the unions collective bargaining demands, and it now becomes law Don't the libs understand that the middle class has had enough, and we are broke? BTW, the Supreme Court there is bi-partison, and the Dems lost no time in starting to blister their own Supreme Court because it didn't go their way, bless their greedy little hearts!

Just as we saw how good the 2:1 spending in NY26 did for the pathetic republican party. They couldn't get a republican elected in a republican district. It wasn't even a statewide vote. District voting is the most favorable to grass root efforts. The tea party & republicans should have had easy sailing in that election.

The Wisconsin race had a 26 point spread in favor of the incumbent a month before the election. It wasn't in play until 3 weeks before the election. The democrats made up that 26 points within those 3 weeks. That says it all. She only lost by a few thousand votes. But it was an admirable effort on her part. Oh, and the republicans had to spend 3:1 on the race.

I'd say they better be bringing home the bacon,crank up those fund raising efforts and have Beck, Hannity and Rush sneak their paid ads within their programs to get people donating. If they want to stay competitive, it's going to take lots of cash.

Bring It On. Let the Nutroots come. I'll be there defending Wisconsin. I'll be at the ballot box when ever I'm needed with my ID.

Every time there has been a tax cut the Economy has flourished. One Democrat (Kennedy) figured that out along time ago but the nutroots didn't learn from him.

Its my money, let me keep most of it and I'll support the economy. Take some away and I can't support the economy by buying more things. Take even more away from me and I can't improve my company and hire more workers. Take more and I'll quit working and go on the dole. Then who'll pay for me? Money is the incentive for people to work and advance, don't take that away.

The anger of the exteme left is scary. These are the kind of people who throw molotov cocktails, smash windows, throw rocks and bottles at cops. We are seeing their fellow communists rioting in Greece on TV. The Greeks are enraged that they may have to work 40 hours per week, or work until they are 62. Many of them are enraged that they have to work at all.

The permanent state of leftists is anger. They are angry about "injustice", they are angry about "inequality", etc. And they are convinced that the reason some people are less well-off than others, the reason there are poor people, or unhealthy people, or sad people, is that somebody comitted some crime. In other words, there is no such thing as simple random events or situations.

The Republicans have done a great job of convincing their "followers" that our economic problems have been caused by union workers. Not bankers, not mortgage brokers, not hedge-fund managers, not unpaid for wars, not a deep and relentless recession, not sky-rocketing oil prices, not international political instability, not decades of easy credit and insane lending practices, not stagnant wages or three decades of a shrinking middle class, not the fact that today there are about 1/10 as many union workers as there were 50 years ago when the economy was booming, not the lowest tax rates of the last 5 decades. No it`s all about school teachers and fire fighters. They are the real villains, the real enemies of America. It`s because of those greedy third grade teachers.

The anger of the exteme left is scary. These are the kind of people who throw molotov cocktails, smash windows, throw rocks and bottles at cops. We are seeing their fellow communists rioting in Greece on TV. The Greeks are enraged that they may have to work 40 hours per week, or work until they are 62. Many of them are enraged that they have to work at all.

The permanent state of leftists is anger. They are angry about "injustice", they are angry about "inequality", etc. And they are convinced that the reason some people are less well-off than others, the reason there are poor people, or unhealthy people, or sad people, is that somebody comitted some crime. In other words, there is no such thing as simple random events or situations.

I'mMe the Independent has his figures all wrong - the Unions spent millions more than the Republican incumbent spent plus hauled any Union activist thugs to bang, scream and trash the capital. They still could sway the folks in WI who did their jobs every day and voted.

No it isn't the Union members salaries causing the problems, it is the Union members benefits causing the problem. Demonstrating against the folks who pay your salaries, screaming in the faces of the folks who pay your salaries, doesn't win you many friends.

Let the Nutroots and Unions continue to scream and the special elections will rehire the Republicans and deflate the treasuries of the Unions. Let's face it, they aren't losing the bargaining rights of their salaries, it is losing the bargaining rights of their benefits and having to write a personal check each month to belong to the Union. Union membership will plummet when individual members can get a pay raise because their dues aren't automatically deducted from their paycheck.